A Traveler's Christmas
by Sing To Life
Summary: Axel and Roxas are stranded in the airport on Christmas. Fluff ensues. Akuroku, hints of Soriku


"Ladies and gentlemen, we're sorry to inform you but flight A36 to Twilight Town has been delayed due to the snowstorm east of Radiant Gardens. As of now, we do not have an estimated reschedule time. Thank you for your patience."

Roxas heaved a heavy sigh at the announcement. This was the third delay in three hours. The first had been only forty-five minutes, and the next, another two hours. And now?

Well, it didn't look like they would make it home for Christmas after all.

The legs under his head started shifting as their owner slowly woke up. Long fingers started working their way through Roxas' blonde spikes in comforting strokes and circles almost unconsciously. Sleepy green eyes blinked open, meeting Roxas' blue.

"Good morning, Axel," Roxas whispered hoarsely, offering a gentle smile up at his cushion. His eyes sparkled, catching the light just right to make them twinkle softly.

"Hey, Roxy. How ya feeling?" Axel yawned, stretching his long arms above his head without jostling the boy on his lap. Dipping his hand into his pocket carefully, he pulled out his phone, checking the time. It blinked back at him: 3:34am 25 December, 20XX

"Better," Roxas lied, trying to suppress a cough. This only made him cough harder, his chest shaking with spasms as he tried to breath. It took him a full two minutes to return back to normal.

Worried, Axel laid a hand on Roxas' flushed cheek to check the temperature. His eyebrows knit together as he concentrated for a moment before sitting back, heaving a sigh of relief. "Your fever went down at least. I was worried you might just spontaneously combust," he joked with a wink down at the blonde in his lap.

Roxas rolled his eyes. "If anyone's going to burst into flames, I think it'll be you, pyro," he muttered, trying not to laugh at Axel's wide eyes and fake shock.

"I would never!" Axel declared dramatically, putting a hand to his chest in mock hurt. "Just because I enjoy my food a little bit crispy—"

"You melted a hole in my microwave!" Roxas protested, purposefully curling his lips down in a frown to keep from smiling.

"You needed a new one anyways," Axel casually waved his comment away.

"And that's why I don't let you cook anymore," Roxas teased, sticking out his tongue at the redhead.

They both laughed until another round of coughs interrupted their banter. Axel brushed Roxas' hair back from his face, trying to help as much as he could. He had caught this just before they had left school, and it had yet to let up. After their plane had been forced to land halfway along its route due to the weather, Roxas' fever had spiked. Worried that he would have no way to get Roxas to a hospital in the storm, Axel had had a mini freak-out until Roxas had given him a good knock to the head.

When the coughing finally stopped, Roxas smiled up at him, reassuringly. "I'll be fine. So stop worrying," he reached his hand up to twine his fingers in Axel's. "You're gonna go grey. And I can't be dating an old man. What will the neighbors think?"

Axel chuckled, squeezing Roxas' hand, "You couldn't get rid of me if you tried."

Opening his mouth to make a snarky comment, Roxas was cut off by the sound of Axel's ringtone. Axel checked the caller ID and groaned. "It's the she-devil," he explained, shaking his head.

Answering the phone, he flinched as a loud voice came bursting through his speakers, "Axel! Where the hell are you?! Sora and Riku have been here for hours!"

Axel sighed, rubbing his face with his free hand as Roxas chuckled. "Are you drunk, Kairi? You shouldn't be up this late," he scolded, switching into older brother mode.

"Might have had...mmm...one or two? Who cares! You didn't answer my question!" Now that Roxas was listening, he could tell she was slurring her words together just slightly.

"We're stuck at the airport cause of that giant ass storm. Sora and Riku probably got the last flight in before they shut everything down," Axel responded, exasperated. Talking to a drunk Kairi was always a battle; things would just go over her head.

"Well, get here soon! Before I drink all the booze!" she giggled, ignoring everything Axel said. "I'll see you in a bit! Bye-bye!" There was a beep as she hung up the phone.

Roxas couldn't hold in his laughter at the daggers Axel was glaring at his cell. Ever since Axel's parents had brought Kairi home from the hospital, Axel had been the typical over-protective brother. He padded the room with his stuffed animals when she learned to walk, followed her around the school on her first day of kindergarten, and got suspended for punching a boy who ran into her on the playground. It had only gotten worse when their parents had passed away in a car accident just before his fifteenth birthday.

"C'mon. We did way worse when we were her age," Roxas soothed, squeezing his hand. "And Reno's watching her. She'll be fine."

At the mention of his older brother, Axel's face soured. He had never believed Reno to be a good role model. Just like the two boys, Reno had been through his own party phase, and Axel had never forgiven him for it. While Axel had gone to school and worked two jobs to keep food on the table, Reno had been around in name alone. It took him a year and a half to sober up long enough to be home for a night, but eventually, he got his act together and started working to support his family again. He had been trying to make up with Axel ever since.

"Yeah, yeah," he sighed, choosing to ignore the topic. The subject was always a stalemate between the two. Roxas insisted Axel give him a chance, but Axel held a grudge like no other. And Axel refused to ruin Christmas with talk of his brother.

Roxas closed his eyes tiredly, offering a change in topic. "Hey, can you maybe shoot Cloud and Leon a text? They're probably asleep, but I don't want them to wake up and worry because I'm not home."

Nodding, Axel pulled up Roxas' dads' contacts, shooting them a quick summary of their situation. Once he finished that, he looked back down at Roxas, smiling. "All done. I'll let you know if they text back," he stated before tucking his phone back in his pocket. "In the meantime, I'm going to take a bathroom break."

Roxas nodded sleepily, lifting his head to allow Axel to slip out from beneath him. Axel grabbed a sweatshirt from their luggage pile, tucking it under Roxas' head as a substitute pillow before jogging away.

His eyelids heavy and his brain muddled with snot, Roxas fell asleep to the image of his boyfriend's bright red hair bobbing off into the crowd.

He was woken up, what felt like minutes later, to the stroke of slim fingers over his scalp. His pillow had returned to the firm texture of muscular thighs, and the scent of cinnamon hung in the air around him. The familiar signs of his boyfriend had Roxas smiling even before he opened his eyes.

When he finally did, he was greeted by sight of the red-head's flame-colored spikes covered with a tacky green hat in the shape of a Christmas tree complete with little blinking lights wrapping around the outside.

"My turn to say good morning, huh, Sleeping Beauty?" Axel teased. Seeing the incredulous look on the blonde's face, he smirked and gestured to the hat. "I figured since we wouldn't be getting home any time soon, I would decorate for our own little Christmas."

"You actually paid money for that," Roxas tssked, disbelievingly. This was such an Axel thing to do. No one else outside of their immediate friend group realized how much of a dork Axel could be. He was just a cheese-ball disguised as an emo.

Axel waggled his finger in Roxas' face, "If you're going to be grumpy, you're not getting any of your presents."

Raising his eyebrows, Roxas gave him a skeptical look. "Presents?" He didn't think he had a fever anymore, but it might have been so high he was starting to become delusional. Neither of them had put their presents in their carry-on's, and the only options in the airport were gossip magazines and tacky tourist t-shirts.

"Yup," Axel said simply before reaching to his side and pulling out something wrapped in wax paper. The white wrapping crinkled as he opened it to reveal a loaded sandwich. "I know you usually have ham for Christmas dinner. So here is one ham sandwich with all the fixings."

Holding up his hand to keep Roxas from interrupting, he put the sandwich down and continued, reaching into a bag that Roxas hadn't noticed. "In the place of annoying family squabbles," he stopped to open his hand, tipping it upside down over Roxas' face. Out dropped a cloud of sparkles onto Roxas' head, making him groan. "You won't be able to get that out of your hair for a while," Axel winked, laughing at Roxas' pout.

As Axel reached into his bag again, Roxas grabbed his collar, pulling him down threateningly. "If you dump anything sticky or edible on a sick person, you're going to hell. And I will gladly send you there," he glared, attempting to appear tough despite his pink cheeks.

Closing the gap between them, Axel placed a short but tender kiss on his boyfriend's mouth, chuckling against his lips as Roxas' cheeks got even redder. "Don't worry. I'll be nice from now on. I promise."

Roxas gave him a warning look but let him go. Reaching into the bag once again, Axel pulled out a bag of cough drops and some medicine. "As a substitute for your stocking," he elaborated, unwrapping one and popping it into the blonde's mouth. Roxas gave him a grateful look, his mouth busy enjoying the cherry-flavored relief.

"And finally," Axel stated dramatically, his hand reaching into the bag for the last time. "A little token of my affection."

In his hand sat a miniature snow globe, no bigger than a golf ball. The outside was painted black with little white stars raised in the ceramic. An intricate lock decorated the front as a key hung off the side. Roxas couldn't see anything inside the glass as it seemed to be tinted dark on purpose.

As Roxas watched, Axel put the delicate little key into the lock and turned it round and round like a music box until it finally could go no further. Pulling it back out, he opened his palm to allow Roxas a clear view.

Immediately, tiny tinkling music started playing a beautiful melody. A second later, the globe slowly started illuminating, revealing what was on the inside. From the bottom, a pure white rose bloomed upward, stretching out its petals to unearth a crescent moon rising from the middle. The light seemed to originate from the little moon and bounce off the petals like moonbeams.

By the time the song was finished, the flower had fully blossomed, and the glass was clear and bright. As the last notes faded away, the moon slowly sank back into the shrinking petals, the globe turning dark once more.

Roxas stared at the gift, eyes wide and mouth open. He looked up at Axel, shocked, trying to find the right words. "How...? Where the hell did you even find that in an _airport_?"

"Don't underestimate my power, Roxy," Axel smirked slyly, placing the trinket into Roxas' open hands.

As gently as he could, Roxas turned it in his fingers, in awe at the craftsmanship. "It's beautiful," he breathed, practically in tears. Once he realized, he scrubbed his face furiously in an attempt to hide the fact, but Axel only chuckled at the attempt.

"It's okay, Rox. Your emotional health has obviously been affected too," he teased. That earned him a smack to his jaw, but it was half-hearted at best. There was no way Roxas could be mad at him right then.

After a second of silence, Roxas glanced up to catch his boyfriend's gaze, his eyes still watering slightly. "But...I don't have anything to give you," he whispered, not trusting his voice. He cleared his throat slightly which sent him into a small coughing fit.

Axel smoothed his hand over Roxas' hair, waiting patiently for him to finish. Once he was sure Roxas was okay, he bent down and pecked his forehead. "I'm just happy I can spend Christmas with you," he smiled tenderly.

Grabbing his shirt again, Roxas pulled him down into a sweet and tender kiss, infusing it with every inch of his gratitude. When he finally released him, he placed his hand on Axel's cheek affectionately.

"I love you so much," he murmured.

Axel smiled wide and genuine before passionately connecting their lips once more. Pulling back, he gazed down at the perfect man in his lap, happier than he had ever been in his life just to have him near.

"I love you too."


End file.
